Anderson Silva and MMA

So it is no surprise to any fight fans out there that I believe that Silva should clean Chael Sonnen's clock. He is a superior fighter in all aspects of the game and has great movement. Chael has shown a great deal of willingness to get punched and keep driving forward, but that is a recipe for disaster against Silva. Just watch the Griffin vs. Silva fight at heavyweight to see what I mean. Sonnen's best chance is to drive forward and get one of his takedowns while Silva tries to counterstrike, and hope he can inflict enough damage and evade the submissions of Silva. Then he should try to smother Silva and accumulate enough points to win. I think that this is Sonnen's only chance, and it is, frankly, quite likely to be his game plan (much as he talks knockout).

But this brings me to my main point. Dana White and others have pointed out that they do not like the hang back and pick apart style of Silva - it is not flashy or aggressive enough for their liking. But here is my beef with that opinion. That is how a premier striker should fight. A jiujitsu guy stymies his opponent in the guard and prevents damage that way. A wrestler smothers his opponent by being on top and raining down blows and avoids damage that way. A striker uses good footwork, evasive maneuvering and counterattacks to avoid damage. There is nothing at all wrong with this!!!

I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH!

I have seen people praise George St. Pierre for laying on top if an opponent for 5 rounds and smothering him - not doing much damage but doing just enough to keep from being told by the referee to stand back up. This is effectively identical to what Silva did in the Demian Maia (though Silva did clown him a bit more than GSP ever does), and Sliva gets trounced in blogs and on TV for it. GSP and others seem to be more exciting because it is clear that they are in a fight - they are in constant contact with their opponents, whether on top or on bottom. People have become so enamored of the BJJ and Wrestling styles they forget that you do not have to get into a wrestling match to win a fight. In fact, I would argue that the striking style is more effective - fights start on their feet and a small striker can put out a much larger opponent the same way a small BJJ fighter can take out someone bigger. But in wrestling and infighting in general, the bigger person has an advantage against the smaller, just by virtue of weight and leverage. One need look no further than Roy "Big Country" Nelson to see this.

Yes, Nelson is a well-trained and well-rounded fighter, but he can smother someone better than he is by virtue of his size. In any kind of ground fighting, the bigger person has a huge advantage unless the smaller one is much better trained. The same is true in striking, of course, but I would argue that it takes less training to become a proficient striker in terms of self defense, and you have an easier out in running away after you inflict damage (this is strictly from a self-defense perspective not an MMA sport one).

But nonetheless, Anderson Silva avoiding damage on his feet should be lauded not derided, and if you think that this is not "exciting" enough than I would say that you are probably ignorant of the technique involved. Demian Maia had no answer for Silva's superior striking, and Silva should not have to come forward and prove that after handily winning the first three rounds. Maia should be scorned for not attempting to finish the fight in the last two rounds, because if Silva was actually tired (as many of his detractors claim) then Maia threw away his only opportunity to win. If Silva was not tired, it was still on Maia to try and win, because he had clearly lost the first three rounds. To fault Silva for this is the height of ignorance.

You can fault Silva for some of the unsportsmanlike ways in which he comported himself in the fight, but that is still forgivable, given that his opponent did not want to bother fighting him. But to conclude, just realize that the fight game is about inflicting damage on your opponent while avoiding taking damage yourself. Whether this is accomplished through grappling or striking is insignificant, and people are so conditioned to the infighting that occurs in the UFC, they forget the true skill involved in avoiding the infighting altogether. That is not at all an easy thing to do, and takes just as much skill and talent as anything else in the UFC.